Afghan medical tourists prefer Iran over India: Afghan tourism expert

Iran and Afghanistan are two neighboring countries that share a common language and a long history. The Relationship between Iran and Afghanistan has been shaped by the cultural commonalities that exist between the two peoples.

Mr. Navab Amini is an Afghan who is engaged in business activities between Iran and Afghanistan. He also has an active presence in the health tourism industry. Mr. Amini owns a travel agency in Herat that holds the government permit to operate medical tours to foreign countries, including Iran.

On a visit to AriaMedTour’s office in Tehran, Mr. Amini held talks with the officials of the company and expressed his willingness to form a partnership with the Iranian medical tourism facilitator. He also talked for a few minutes in front of the camera, giving his reasons why Iran is an ideal healthcare destination for Afghans and why he wants to help his ‘Afghan brothers benefit from the healthcare services of Iran.’

Navab Amini is an Afghan health tourism expert

The shared culture and language of Afghans and Iranians is what Mr. Amini cites as the main reason behind Afghans’ eagerness to travel to Iran for medical treatments, as it ‘makes them feel more comfortable’ while they are in Iran. Clean cities and ‘cultured’ people of Iran, he says, are two other characteristics of Iran that encouraged him to help Afghans come to the country for treatments.

Not only that, Iranian healthcare services have proved to be very satisfying for Afghan medical tourists. Mr. Amini has been dealing with a lot of Afghan patients who underwent treatments in Iran, and he testifies that most of them have been satisfied with the services they received. Boasting excellent doctors and developed medical facilities, Iran offers effective healthcare services to foreign patients, including Afghans, at very affordable costs.

As Afghanistan has been grappling with poverty caused by years of war and political instability, the healthcare infrastructure of the country is not effective enough to meet the medical needs of the population. Consequently, many Afghan people in need of medical attention seek treatment in neighboring countries, including Iran, Pakistan, and India.

Mr. Amini is of the opinion that Iran is the preferred choice for Afghan people seeking treatments abroad. If visa requirements for Afghan medical tourists get slightly relaxed, a greater number of them will be visiting Iran for healthcare services, he points out. The Iranian cities of Mashhad, Yazd, Isfahan, and Tehran are the most popular destinations for Afghan health tourists.

Afghan medical tourism expert Navab Amini (2nd left) and AriaMedTour’s staff members posing for a photo at the company’s HQ in Tehran